5 Simple After-Work Meals That Are Fast & Easy To Make
The last thing you want to do when you get home from a long day at work is cook, but there's one serious problem with that: you're hungry! Luckily for you, we've come up with 5 delicious meals that are fast and easy to make, and require very few ingredients. The amount of time needed to cook these gourmet dishes will have you thinking it's a TV dinner, but the taste will have you and your family thinking you're dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
1. Steak, Eggs, and Potatoes
You'll need:
- 2 rump steaks
- salt & pepper
- 1 lb small potatoes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 3 oz grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
Here's how:
1. Lay the rump steaks on a greased sheet pan and season with salt and pepper.
2. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized portions and place them in a large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, the spices, and the cheese and mix together carefully. Add everything to the sheet pan around the steaks.
3. Crack the eggs between the other ingredients, place the sheet pan in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes at 360°F.
2. Hash Browns with Eggs
You'll need:
- 2 lbs potatoes
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 5½ oz ham, diced
- 8 oz plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 7 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
- ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
- salt & pepper
- 6 eggs
- 1 spring onion, cut into thin rings
Here's how:
1. Grate the peeled potatoes over a large bowl. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and fry the onion and diced ham. Add the mixture to the grated potatoes.
2. Add the yogurt, mustard, Swiss cheese, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to the potatoes, and evenly spread the mixture in a deep sheet pan that has already been greased. Take a medium-sized bowl and use the bottom to create 6 indents in the hash brown mixture. Put the sheet pan in a preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 390°F.
3. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and crack one egg into each indent. Reduce the heat to 360°F and cook for another 10 minutes. To garnish, sprinkle spring onion on top once the dish has slightly cooled.
3. Pork Tenderloin with Cauliflower
You'll need:
- 1 lb pork tenderloin
- ½ tbsp salt
- ½ tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tbsp caraway
- 1 tbsp paprika
- ½ tbsp pepper
- 12 slices of bacon
- 2½ fl oz barbecue sauce
- 21 oz cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper
Here's how:
1. Combine all the spices in a bowl and then carefully coat the pork tenderloin with the spice mixture.
2. Lay the bacon slices next to each other on a sheet pan so that they overlap. Place the pork tenderloin on top of one of the long ends of the bacon slices and roll the entire thing up. Situate the pork log diagonally on the sheet pan and brush BBQ sauce over the meat.
3. Spread the cauliflower florets around the pork tenderloin, drizzle olive oil over the vegetables, and season with salt and pepper. Put the sheet pan in the oven and cook at 340°F for 20 minutes.
4. Salmon with Teriyaki Sauce and Vegetables
You'll need:
- 4 salmon fillets, 6 oz each
- 6 oz green beans
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 2¾ fl oz teriyaki sauce
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp scallions, cut into thin rings
Here's how:
1. Grease a deep sheet pan and divide it into three sections: lay the salmon fillets side by side on one end, place the green beans in the middle, and spread out the carrot slices on the other end.
2. Brush the teriyaki sauce over the salmon and drizzle olive oil over the vegetables. Then salt and pepper the dish.
3. Place the sheet pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes at 360°F. To garnish, sprinkle sesame seeds and scallions over the top.
5. Greek Chicken
You'll need:
- 6 chicken breast fillets
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ bunch dill
- ½ bunch oregano
- 1½ lbs potatoes
- 1 red onion
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 lemon, sliced
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 7 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- 3 oz Kalamata olives
- 4¼ oz sun-dried tomatoes
Here's how:
1. First spread the chicken breasts out on a deep sheet ban that has already been greased. To create the marinade: squeeze the juice of one lemon into a small bowl, add the chopped garlic, dill, and oregano, and mix everything thoroughly. Brush the marinade over the chicken.
2. Cut the potatoes, red bell peppers, and red onion into bite-sized pieces and lay around the chicken breasts. Place the lemon slices on top, drizzle olive oil over the entire dish, and season with salt and pepper. Put the sheet pan in the oven, and cook at 320°F for 25 minutes.
3. Garnish with crumbled feta, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Isn't it wonderful to sit back and let the cooking take care of itself? The best part is, these dishes are so fast and easy to make, you can easily meal prep for the entire week if you want to get organized in advance. Now all that's left to do is enjoy the fruits of your (minimal) labor!